Gynecological and general surgical procedures are often performed on patients by doctors who sit adjacent and between the legs of the patients. While this close proximity facilitates performing the examinations and procedures, this position also presents logistical problems for doctors. The problems include storage and retrieval of both clean and used surgical instruments as well as maintaining sterile operating surfaces. Typically, doctors use scrub nurses to pass instruments and sutures from a back table during these types of surgical procedures. The doctor must therefore either hold out their outstretched arm to receive an instrument or turn from the site to face the scrub nurse to receive the instrument. If a scrub nurse is not available, the doctor must physically turn and in some instances stand to reach an instrument. The instruments must be placed in collection bins after use. Furthermore, these types of medical procedures often release fluids from a patient, which, because of the doctor's location, can be communicated to the doctor. These fluids include bodily fluids and blood released by the patient as well as irrigation and injection fluids used during the procedure. The current garments worn by doctors during these types of procedures do not offer complete protection from contamination by these fluids. The fluids also make the surgical instruments slippery, and therefore difficult to handle. In the event a surgical instrument falls to the floor, the instrument cannot be re-used in that procedure without cleaning and sterilization.
Patient drapes have been developed to address these problems of surgical procedures. For instance, disposable obstetrical abdominal drapes have been developed to aid physicians during surgical and examination procedures performed on the genital regions of patients. One type of drape overlies the abdominal and thoracic portions of patients during surgery. These drapes maintain the surgical instruments in close proximity to the patient and surgeon. For instance, such surgical drapes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 27,710 and 4,476,860 to Melges and Collins respectively. Such drapes typically are tailored to provide coverage of patients during procedures while maintaining sterile environments around the patients. In addition, such drapes provide liquid barriers that prevent fluids from passing through the drapes to the patients or to the doctors and prevent the saturation of surgical drapes during procedures.
These drapes however are not practical for perineal procedures. The abdominal and thoracic drapes include openings appropriate for such surgeries. Further, the doctor typically stands during such surgeries lateral of the patient. The pockets accordingly are lateral of the drape in close proximity to the doctor. In contrast, with the patient in the lithotomy position, the doctor sits between the legs of the patient for perineal surgeries. Abdominal and thoracic drapes would not provide satisfactory protection from contamination of instruments which fall from the hands of the doctor. Further, such drapes used for perineal surgeries would unsatisfactorily provide work surfaces convenient to the doctor, and the doctor would be continually standing up to obtain instruments and store them.
The inventor of the present invention previously developed a drape for perineal surgeries. The drape creates a continuous sterile surface between a physician and a patient undergoing perineal procedures. The surgical drape includes draw strings on one of its sides for attachment of the drape around the waist of the physician. Clips attach the opposing edge of the drape to the drape on the patient. The drape defines a trough-shaped surgical surface. Doctors using the drape can control the shape of the surface and the distance between themselves and their patients by moving a seat such as a rollable stool towards or away from the patient. A side pocket is formed along each of the side edges. The side pockets are to receive a surgical instrument, should one fall from the hands of the doctor during a procedure.
While the drape provides a sterile environment during perineal procedures, the drape still suffers from several disadvantages. It has been found that instruments which slip from the hand of the doctor during procedures are not caught satisfactorily in the side pockets. The elongate, flexible nature of the pockets allow the instrument to often slide out and fall to the floor. Such fallen instruments cannot be re-used in the procedure without breaching the sterile field. Further, while providing a trough-like surface of protection between a patient and doctor, the surgical drape does not provide a work space appropriate for surgical procedures for conducting the operation. Particularly, the drape is not able to assuredly isolate used surgical instruments or fluids. The impermeable sheet defining the surgical drape does not allow for absorption of excess fluids typically released during perineal procedures. The surgical drape also uses clips for fastening the drape to the garments covering the patient. The clips may slippingly release engagement, and the surgical trough at least partially collapses.
It thus is seen that a need remains for a surgical drape which provides a sterile surgical operating surface conveniently disposed between a patient and a doctor which drape provides pockets for holding surgical instruments while more reliably receiving dropped instruments and absorbing fluids therefrom for subsequent continued use during surgical procedures. It is to such that the present invention is directed.